I figured I would start a new thread to discuss pinball in home service. Perhaps you are a service technician and have a neat story to tell or you had someone come to your house to repair your game. I've been doing home service since 1984 and have met hundreds of great people and have some neat stories to tell from over the years.. I can post them here from time to time and encourage others to do the same who do home service as well.

Another aspect that can be discussed here is what things techs run into as these games get to be 40+ years old. Im sure alot of techs use pinside so it would be nice to get some insight on what issues/solutions come along and how they are handled with the client and vice-versa in this unique service that is provided. These games were not meant to last 40 plus years so servicing them in a clients home to get heavy play can be a challenge!

Rolling Stones Service call-
I have been doing home service calls since 1984. It’s always rewarding to take something that is broken, fix, clean up and play again! All pinball machines in homes have a story to tell of why they were purchased or acquired. Often, the games have nostalgia for their owners as some have been in the family for decades and have been passed down several times to different family members.
We sold this particular Rolling Stones pinball back in 1996 from our St. Paul Como store. It was purchased by a woman as a gift for her husband as he loved pinball. Both were huge fans of the band as well. Over the years I have done a tune up on this game, perhaps every 3-4 years or so. The gentleman who received the pinball used to work for a record distributor back in the 80’s and 90’s. In his basement his entire wall was covered with pictures of himself with every music personality imaginable. It was always fun chatting with him about who in the industry was nice or arrogant. He always spoke fondly of Dolly Parton and the Stones. In 2002 when he had some health problems Mick Jaeger sent him some signed memorabilia and other things.
I hadn’t heard from these clients until recently. The last service call was in 2015. Sadly, wife recently passed away very recently and he wanted the game assembled and tuned up at his new place. It’s been a long time and it was good to see this client again. (I would name him but privacy etc.)
Towards the middle of the call I asked the history of the game of why it was purchased when she could have got many other rock themed pinballs at the time.
He proceeds to tell me that his wife was diagnosed with cancer in 1994. At the time the longest survivor of this type of cancer was 4 years. Mick Jaeger through channels in the industry heard about this and invited the couple to a concert with VIP seats etc. Prior to the concert starting he had them backstage. He spoke with the client’s wife for 10 minutes offering words of encouragement.( I guess many young ladies were back stage and not too happy that Mick walked past them) In closing he asked if she would like them to play anything in particular.) She chose Sweet Virginia. To their surprise they played the song with Mick on the harmonica. According to him it’s an older song generally not on their playlist for concerts. As I was getting done with the call the client put played Sweet Virginia on his cd player. He actually sang a little bit along with it. A little touching to say the least. He said that by them playing that song it in a way gave her hope with her cancer. Amazingly, she lived 25+ years past diagnosis.
In closing this is the best connection I have heard as far as a client and the reason they own a particular pinball machine. I also have a new appreciation for the Rolling Stones. Thought I’d share. Thanks for reading!

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